Three individuals arrested for New Jersey multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) – Three individuals were arrested on charges related to a $3 million mortgage fraud scheme in Orange and East Orange, New Jersey, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.

Shaheid Bilal, Rhonda Payne, and Richard Britt allegedly submitted mortgage loan applications in the name of straw buyers and containing false information from 2005 to 2007. The defendants recruited the straw purchasers by paying them fees and telling them that they will not have to pay mortgage as the defendants would rent the properties and/or would make payments for several months.

The defendant distributed the fraudulent proceeds among themselves for their personal gain. They executed their fraud scheme in properties from Orange and East Orange, New Jersey.

Bilal, 33, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, supervised and coordinated the recruitment of straw purchasers and prepared the false documents and loan applications.

Payne, 36, of Queens, New York, recruited straw buyers and assisted in the production of the fraudulent papers.

Britt, 48, of McDonough, Georgia, assisted in the preparation of the fraudulent paperwork.